Tell me about your passing game

[HawkDawg]

This is where I think the game will be won or lost by MSU. Iowa's young d-backs are solid, but can most definitely be burned. Iowa's defensive style allows a ton of short passing yards, then it comes down to whether you can score on us in the red-zone where we are traditionally tougher than most. Not having watched much of State this year, fill me in.

 

[Drebin]

This is where I think the game will be won or lost by MSU. Iowa's young d-backs are solid, but can most definitely be burned. Iowa's defensive style allows a ton of short passing yards, then it comes down to whether you can score on us in the red-zone where we are traditionally tougher than most. Not having watched much of State this year, fill me in.

Our passing game is not as good as we would like it to be, but it's not as bad as many say. Our QB has a rifle and throws a nice intermediate ball, but struggles on the deep stuff. His challenges are less about his inability though, and more about the offense he's in and the reads he has to make.

We are very good running the ball, however. I don't want to take anything away from Iowa, who I'm sure is solid defensively, but we played two defenses comparable to yours....Auburn and A&M, and ran the ball with success in comfortable wins. The big question is whether our coaches commit to the run.

 

[missouridawg]

We’ve struggled against teams that have great DBs and DLs. If you can’t get pressure on Fitz and your DBs aren’t NFL quality, we should be able to move the ball well. We can run it really well, with both the RBs and QB, and use that to create mismatches everywhere else.

We are a better than our 8-4 record indicates. It took us 5-6 games with Fitz to get the offense going under the new system. If we could go back and play the season over starting this weekend we’d be a 10-11 win team.

Here’s where I think the game is won.... our defense. Even if our NFLers sit out, we have crazy good depth in defense. Our DL is excellent. Our LBs are excellent. And our secondary is excellent. Honestly, our biggest weakness in defense is probably a CB who is going to get drafted. It’s the best defense we’ve ever fielded and routinely held opponents to season worst performances.

 

[Shmuley]

Watch out for our screens!!11!1!1 No, seriously, watch out for our screens. Perhaps we will both see one in the bowl game.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

We have a Big10 Level Passing game, which means it is bottom third SEC.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

We attempted one in the egg bowl, but we dropped it. I guess the receiver was shocked, too

 

[Drebin]

Watch out for our screens!!11!1!1 No, seriously, watch out for our screens. Perhaps we will both see one in the bowl game.

We threw a WR screen to Jesse Jackson in the Egg Bowl and it was shittastic. Fitz threw a 98 mph fastball to him from three yards away. Jackson somehow caught it, although it about knocked the breath out of him. It was poorly blocked, but Jackson somehow turned it into a positive gain.

In other news, Jesse Jackson was a badass for one drive in the Egg Bowl.

 

[philduckworth]

We have been a bad offense all year against good defenses. We are averaging 4 points per game in our 4 losses.

 

[HumpDawgy]

I heard we are finally ready to unleash hell with our new improved Run and Gun Offense for the bowl game. We have been hiding this all season with the plan to use it for our bowl game. Didn't want you guys to have anything on film. We are brilliant that way. 6 and 7 receiver sets (however that works).

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Iowa's D is ranked ahead of Kentucky and Flarrda in S&P. That worries me. Then again, Southern Miss is ranked above all of them, so I'm hoping SOS is playing a part in there somewhere, and perhaps Iowa is overrated similarly to Michigan. I expect our passing game to be pretty bad in this game and likely the game will be low-scoring. If we can make the play this time, we win, unlike Flarrda (thanks Osirus).

 

[maroonmania]

Our passing game is below average so I don't expect us to score a whole lot on Iowa but I will surprised if Iowa scores much of anything against us. Outside of the KY game early on nobody has scored much of anything against our D. Alabama had to have some generous help from the SEC officials to get to 24.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

One of the things we do best is score in the red zone...

Iowa's defensive style allows a ton of short passing yards, then it comes down to whether you can score on us in the red-zone where we are traditionally tougher than most.

We are 17th in the country in red zone offense efficiency: 39 trips, 19 rushing TDs, 9 passing TDs, 7 FGs. https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/703. Your defense is 42nd in efficiency: 26 trips, 5 rushing TDs, 12 passing TDs. https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/704

We also happen to be 7th in red zone defense. 32 trips, only 8 total TDs.

 

[Drebin]

Iowa's D is ranked ahead of Kentucky and Flarrda in S&P. That worries me. Then again, Southern Miss is ranked above all of them, so I'm hoping SOS is playing a part in there somewhere, and perhaps Iowa is overrated similarly to Michigan. I expect our passing game to be pretty bad in this game and likely the game will be low-scoring. If we can make the play this time, we win, unlike Flarrda (thanks Osirus).

More proof that rankings like that are BS. There is no reliable way to rank defenses when they don't compete in a vacuum. Iowa's defense didn't have to play against the same offenses we did, and they avoided the most high powered offenses in their own league.

Our defense is head-and-shoulders better than theirs. I think we likely shut them out. Their defense is not going to be as good as A&M or Auburn's was on the field. They are well coached and have some talent over there, but they're not going to have the elite speed and athleticism on the lines and at the LB position that we do.

I can totally see a score similar to the egg bowl.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

More proof that rankings like that are BS. There is no reliable way to rank defenses when they don't compete in a vacuum. Iowa's defense didn't have to play against the same offenses we did, and they avoided the most high powered offenses in their own league.

Our defense is head-and-shoulders better than theirs. I think we likely shut them out. Their defense is not going to be as good as A&M or Auburn's was on the field. They are well coached and have some talent over there, but they're not going to have the elite speed and athleticism on the lines and at the LB position that we do.

I can totally see a score similar to the egg bowl.

I'm with you in general, but I don't think they are totally BS. They can tell a story, just not the whole story.

I do think our athleticism will win out in the end, but I don't see a blowout. I guess I could see 20-10 or similar.

 

[AxisBoldAsKIrk]

Hello Bulldogs!

Can your D defend one really good tight end? If so, it's probably game over for us.
Our QB is a huge liability. You might hear about his "NFL arm" and "size", but really, what does that even mean?
He doesn't exactly have any swagger, and is very inaccurate.

Unless our D can somehow score points, this one might get ugly.
Hope not tho!

 

[Drebin]

I'm with you in general, but I don't think they are totally BS. They can tell a story, just not the whole story.

I do think our athleticism will win out in the end, but I don't see a blowout. I guess I could see 20-10 or similar.

They aren't totally BS if we were all playing the same opponents. They would be more reliable if they were conference-only rankings, or even better, division-only rankings.

Overall, yes, they can tell a story. But playing Kentucky, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss is not like playing Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska.

They've only played two teams ranked in the top 25 currently, and one of them (Northwestern) is barely there.

 

[Drebin]

Hello Bulldogs!

Can your D defend one really good tight end? If so, it's probably game over for us.
Our QB is a huge liability. You might hear about his "NFL arm" and "size", but really, what does that even mean?
He doesn't exactly have any swagger, and is very inaccurate.

Unless our D can somehow score points, this one might get ugly.
Hope not tho!

Our QB is similar to yours, it sounds like, from a throwing perspective. Our QB does play with some swagger though, and he's one of the greatest rushing QBs of all time, so stopping him will be a priority for your defense. If you can stop our running game, it will be a close, low-scoring affair.

 

[HotMop]

This is all you need to know:

View attachment 11900

 

[aTotal360]

Passing game? WTF is that?

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

that's what I was about to say. it sounds like they are similar except fitz can run like a deer when he gets going. If you haven't played many option attacks this year. it can be a trouble to defend if Fitz makes the right reads. Kentucky did manage to make it difficult for us to run. We do have trouble passing if you have good pass rushers. I haven't watched enough film to see what your pass rushers look like.

 

[Xenomorph]

Dude... that's the thing we use to open up the QB draw out of the shotgun on 4th and inches.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

and somehow we tip toe around in the backfield and get tackled in the backfield. blows my mind how we just won't go headstrong right toward the line. if you are going out of the shotgun, you should be looking for the gap when you line up and hit that gap full steam ahead. if not the gap, find your best olineman and full steam behind him.

 

[Drewbowski]

Boognish?

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

that's what I was about to say. it sounds like they are similar except fitz can run like a deer when he gets going. If you haven't played many option attacks this year. it can be a trouble to defend if Fitz makes the right reads. Coach Moorhead did manage to make it difficult for us to run, while he tried to make Fitz a pocket QB. We do have trouble passing if you have good pass rushers. I haven't watched enough film to see what your pass rushers look like.

Fixed it for you.